In case you've managed to avoid the story,
he's the 27-year-old New York Times reporter who resigned on May
1 after getting caught plagiarizing.

In five years, Jayson Blair wrote over
600 stories for the paper, and it now appears that much of it
was either incorrect, brazen lies or plagiarism.

Because he's young and black, Jayson Blair's
story has been eagerly seized upon by opponents of affirmative
action, those who believe young reporters shouldn't be working
at major papers straight out of college and those who simply hate
the Times.

So much has been said and will be said
that the most obvious fact has gotten lost in the shuffle: Jayson
Blair was in way over his head.

In that situation, most people sink, swim
or grab onto something. Jayson Blair grabbed onto fantasy and
other people's work. Up until recently, no one at the Times with
enough influence seemed to care.

Blair was a student at the University
of Maryland (he didn't graduate, folks at the Times only assumed
he had) when he landed an apprentice reporter job at the Times.
Things apparently started going wrong almost immediately. Although
talented and charming, Blair had trouble with accuracy. His mistakes
mostly involved small-time stuff. He'd misspell names and get
numbers wrong. But Blair's error rate landed him in the corrections
column 50 times in over three years.

The long (7,000 words!) and bitter Times
mea culpa of May 11 chronicled other Blair difficulties. He overspent
his expense account, used company cars more than usual and racked
up a mass of parking tickets which were billed to the paper.
In short, it appears he wasn't reading any books on how to succeed
at work.

Nonetheless, Blair was promoted to staff
reporter in 2001 over the objections of metropolitan editor Jonathan
Landman. Things got worse. Blair made five major errors in a
story on a benefit concert for September 11 victims. He received
a stern rebuke from his bosses. Instead of being sent where he'd
be less visible and gain experience, however, Blair ended up working
on the biggest story of 2002: the Washington D.C. area sniper.
He was one of several Times reporters assigned to the case, but
he outshone the rest with marvelous scoops. The only trouble
was that officials insisted his stories weren't true.

As Jayson Blair's career unraveled, it
appears he plagiarized whole sections of a San Antonio Express-News
story that, ironically, was written by a former Times intern.
This was too much for even his strongest supporters. Blair's
dream job was over.

There's a disturbing aspect to this story
that many may not want to discuss. The paper admits it hired
Blair as part of a diversity program. His bosses presumably meant
well, but my guess is that - on some level - Blair knew he was
being treated like a charity case and resented it. If I were
a Times employee, I'd resent it too.

Did the editors think so little of black
journalistic talent that they were willing to put up with someone
who clearly wasn't ready just because of his skin color? That's
a stark insult to black staffers at the Times and to all the brilliant
minority journalism students who dream of making it to the New
York Times.

Jayson Blair's story is not merely a sad
tale about good intentions gone awry or the plight of one young
man. It's a serious blot on the New York Times. Coming so soon
after CNN's admission that it deliberately kept quiet about atrocities
in Iraq, it casts doubt on American journalism in total.

The public deserves to expect that reported
news is true. Thoughtful people have commented that the news
industry is drifting towards the land of entertainment. In this
sensationalistic environment, it's no wonder the Jayson Blair
situation happened. I only wonder how many more reporters out
there are just like him.

###

(Kimberley Jane Wilson serves
on the National Advisory Council of the conservative African-American
leadership network Project 21. She can be reached at [email protected].)

Note: New Visions Commentaries reflect the views of their author,
and not necessarily those of Project 21.